HOUSTON – The man accused in the death of 9-year-old Arlene Alvarez in 2022 has been indicted on a manslaughter charge.
Tony Earls Jr. has been in jail since his arrest in May of 2024. He had originally been cleared after being no-billed by a grand jury in July 2022. A special prosecutor was appointed to the case, and it was brought before another grand jury who indicted him for murder on April 23, 2024.
However, Earl’s defense attorney says he will go to trial in September on a manslaughter charge instead of a murder charge.
“It never really should have been a murder. It’s not a murder. We don’t think it’s a manslaughter, but it’s never been a murder,” said defense attorney Ed McClees.
The backstory
According to police, Alvarez was struck by a bullet while riding in the back of her family’s truck. Alvarez was rushed to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she later died.
Earls was at the Chase Bank at the intersection of Winkler and Woodridge when he was robbed at gunpoint at 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 14, 2022. After the robbery, Earls fired his handgun at the robber, who was running away from him.
At the same time, the Alvarez family were driving past the bank in their pickup when Earls fired several shots into the truck, killing the child.
Police said that Earls did not initially know he had struck the child until he went home and called to report the robbery. Earls was initially charged with aggravated assault-serious bodily injury.
But when a Harris County grand jury failed to indict him in July 2022, he was released. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg assigned Special Prosecutor Warren Diepraam to reexamine the case.
Diepraam called in an FBI firearms expert to examine the physical evidence that had been collected.
“The expert’s opinion is that Mr. Earls saw the robber run past the vehicle with Arlene Alvarez inside — the vehicle did not do anything to give Mr. Earls a justification to shoot into the passing vehicle,” Diepraam said. “Mr. Earls had a clear line of sight, and obviously Mr. Alvarez did not stop and say to the robber, ‘Get in’ or anything like that.”
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